KVH General Surgery Welcomes Tom Penoyar, MD

8/21/2015

KVH General Surgery will welcome Dr. Tom Penoyar as a new physician on September 1. He will join Dr. Timothy O’Brien and Dr. Frank Smith, bringing the total number of general surgeons employed by KVH to three.

Dr. Penoyar was raised in South Bend, Washington. He traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to complete his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and returned to Washington State to earn his degree in medicine at the University of Washington. Following his studies at the University of Washington, Dr. Penoyar completed a surgical internship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a surgical residency at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, both in the Boston, Massachusetts area.

Dr. Penoyar and his family have already been enjoying their time in Ellensburg. He and his wife Lauren relocated to the area with two-year-old Elsa and one-year-old Joanna in late July.

As a general surgeon, Dr. Penoyar will perform scheduled and emergency surgeries, usually focusing on the abdomen. In Kittitas County, the most common procedures performed by general surgeons are gallbladder or appendix removals and hernia repairs.

“Having immediate access to a general surgeon is frequently critical in a rural area. Patients with emergency surgery needs benefit immensely from rapid access to a surgeon,” said Paul Nurick, chief executive officer for KVH. “We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Tom Penoyar to the team providing this specialty service to Kittitas County.”

Much of the work of a general surgeon is done outside of the operating room, including assessment of patients to determine if surgery is necessary, and pre- and post-operative visits. Some patients may only need minor procedures that can be done in the clinic, like excision of skin cancers.